First-ever hackathon to develop blockchain solutions for the cannabis industry will be hosted by Playhouse Innovation Labs, the innovation strategy arm of VR Playhouse in Partnership with Royal Cannabis Advisors, an elite cannabis strategy consulting firm.

Running from April 20-22, 2018, the C27E: The Cannabis Blockchain Convergence will be the world’s first hackathon to develop blockchain solutions for the cannabis industry, aligning two of the fastest growing and most talked-about industries and laying the groundwork for their collaboration toward mutual prosperity. The event will be a 48-hour long coding sprint where 100 participants will form teams of 5-7 individuals to develop a solution for the cannabis industry using blockchain technology. Teams will then pitch to a panel of judges, who will determine the top three winners. Winners take home prizes including tokens, developer tools, and C27E swag. C27E is a prime event for blockchain developers, cannabis business owners/operators, high-growth startups in both the crypto and cannabis spaces as well as crypto and cannabis investors.

The event is being organized by Matthew King, CEO & Founder of Royal Cannabis Advisors and Playhouse Innovation Labs, the innovation strategy arm of VR Playhouse, led by CEO Ian Forester and CCO DJ Turner, and will be held at VR Playhouse’s Glassell Park location.

The judging panel–the culminating event of the weekend–will take place on Sunday, April 22, at 5:00 pm. Winners will be announced at 7:00 pm, followed by an after-party with refreshments and networking. Tickets for the judging panel can be purchased for $30 HERE.

Lack of access to banking and merchant services, lack of trust between operators, costly and burdensome seed-to-sale tracking software, and unsophisticated supply chain management software are all major challenges facing operators in the cannabis industry. Many of these seemingly intractable problems can be resolved in an elegant and effective manner by implementing solutions based on blockchain technology. C27E will bring together the world’s leading experts in cryptography and cannabis to develop blockchain solutions for the cannabis industry.

The judging panel has had early commitments from Richard Kimball, Founder of Samphire Capital Management, a cannabis investment fund, and former Partner and Managing Director at Goldman Sachs, where he was Head of Global Healthcare Investment Banking; Tim Lewis, Venture Partner at DNA.fund, a leading ICO fund, and current CTO at Genezen, one of the largest cannabis cultivators in California; Donato Sferra, Founder and Managing Partner at Hillcrest Merchant Partners, which invests in the cannabis, crypto, and mining space; Malik Spellman, former business partner of Freeway Rick Ross and peacemaker who settled the agreement between the Bloods and the Crips and starred in A&E’s show “The Peacemaker: LA Gang Wars”; and Adam Gillman, CEO & Founder of FIELD Extracts, the number one Los Angeles cannabis extracts brand. Surprise announcements regarding judges, sponsors, and performers will be made in the coming days.

Notes Forester, “With the introduction of Playhouse Innovation Labs, we are allowing our mission of user advocacy to grow beyond immersive content into the larger innovation space. Legal cannabis is our future, and its medical, industrial and social benefits can be radically democratized through blockchain business solutions that ease the friction currently faced by this emerging industry.”

Adds King, “Cannabis and blockchain are the two fastest growing industries globally. Both hold the promise of catalyzing disruptive transformation in our physical and financial wellbeing. The opportunity we have in our lifetimes is to leverage these technologies to radically re-envision society and make the world a better place for everyone.”

Developers interested in participating in the hackathon portion of the event can reach out to for additional information.

About Playhouse Innovation Labs

Playhouse Innovation Labs is is the innovation strategy arm of VR Playhouse, a Los Angeles-based creative studio and full-service production company specializing in virtual and augmented reality.

Playhouse Innovation Labs extends the mission, vision, and values of VR Playhouse to the larger innovation space by providing strategic consulting, event services, and curated co-working partnerships. With a focus on embodied computing, blockchain/DLT, and machine learning, Playhouse Innovation Labs works to ensure a technological future that respects user data and privacy rights by deploying paradigm shifting technologies in pursuit of ROI for enterprise clients.

About Royal Cannabis Advisors

Royal Cannabis Advisors is an elite cannabis consulting firm leveraging Fortune 100 experience to help leading cannabis startups with fundraising, business development and strategy, key executive hires and recruiting. Royal Cannabis Advisors currently serves the largest and most distinguished cannabis firms globally.